Samurai Spirit - How To Play

[@olivierjodoin2283]

I played this game a lot 4-5 years ago with colleagues at work and haven't played it since. I wanted to introduce it to my son now that he's old enough but had forgotten everything... Thanks a lot for the refresher, your videos are timeless!

[@WatchItPlayed]

So glad this was helpful as you prepared to dive back in - I hope you both have a great time playing!

[@cleanliving1612]

This is still consistently the best channel for explaining games. I'm so happy when a game I'm considering (such as this one) has a Watch It Played video available.

[@WatchItPlayed]

So kind of you to say - glad you enjoyed!

[@chiphall4466]

An oldie! But still great. Thanks again, Rodney!

[@WatchItPlayed]

A pleasure - glad to see it's hitting the table :)

[@Otherspersons]

OMG! I just got this game, and just now found out you made a how to play video! This is going to come in so handy!

[@WatchItPlayed]

Hope you have a great time playing!

[@Geallach83]

Excellent and clear explanation, Rodney! Thank you so much. Before buying a new game, I always check to see if you have a video up on the title I want. Picked this game up today and really enjoyed the solo version.

[@WatchItPlayed]

+Geallach83 Thank you Geallach - so glad you're finding the videos helpful and enjoying Samurai Spirit!

[@DaveBrunoAnimation]

Thanks for this! I was always confused as to what to do if my Samurai was on the fire mark on his combat line and his turn came up again, if its in the rulebook I had a hard time finding it haha. Very good explanation that definitely taught me what I was doing wrong!

[@WatchItPlayed]

Very happy to help Dave!

[@galaxygaming5719]

Picked up this game on a sweet deal. Thanks for the video

[@WatchItPlayed]

Have a great time playing!

[@madalynsantos4643]

i love this game we used to play it a lot but now were trying to play and we forgot how😅 this helped us

[@WatchItPlayed]

Very happy to have been able to assist!

[@gabrielesimionato1210]

thank you very much. I was undecided about buying it, but it looks so fun when you explain it that I am going to give it a try

[@WatchItPlayed]

Glad you found it helpful!

[@gabrielesimionato1210]

Got it for as low as 12€ on BGG. Can't wait to play with the kids.

[@gabrielesimionato1210]

1 year later: great game. I also play it solo, it gives me shivers.

[@MrScherbert]

Very helpful, just about to play for the first time. Thank you.

[@WatchItPlayed]

You're very welcome - good luck!

[@FEfan56]

Considering this game came from the guy that made Ghost Stories me and my group of players were excited to see this come out! Little did we know that this wasn't just a re-skin of of Ghost Stories and worst of all-we had to do MATH! Joking aside you definitely need at least 3 or 4+ players for this game the changes made for the 2 player version just doesn't make for a very interesting experience. Thanks for clearing up that the rules were indeed as simple as the rule book says and that we weren't skipping anything, just that we didn't have enough players to get the most out of this interesting little thing. :)

[@WatchItPlayed]

Yep quite different from Ghost Stories!

[@FranzBazar]

Great explanation as always! Love your videos. Although I don’t really understand the comment about the easy rules. If we need to just go look that up, we could say the same thing for all the rules! Might as well look them all up! I was definitely planning on starting with easy mode. Now I guess I will have to go read the book after all. Overall though excellent video as always.

[@WatchItPlayed]

hey Franz, I'm not sure what you mean by "the comment about the easy rules". It's been a few years since I shot this. Was there a particular point where I said something in the video about that?

[@Blazur]

Great video Rodney, thanks for sharing!

[@WatchItPlayed]

My pleasure!

[@alexill71]

Thank you very much Rodney! I'll try the game as soon as possible. :D

[@WatchItPlayed]

Hope you enjoy!

[@kingplayer14]

I don't think I have seen a cooperative fighting style game before! This reminds me a lot of Wok Star in some ways! I would love to give this one a try

[@WatchItPlayed]

Thanks for checking out the video.

[@KnightOwl23]

Cheers matey. So helpful as usual :)

[@WatchItPlayed]

+Alan Forsyth (TMUK) Thank you Alan!

[@mrSB93]

Great instructions! Thx!

[@WatchItPlayed]

+mrSB93 You're welcome!

[@SolidGamer]

Cool! It would be fun to have a version (or devise one from this board) where you play the raiders instead of the defending samurai

[@WatchItPlayed]

Neat idea (a little less heroic, but neat!)

[@TheSerFal]

great video, thanks!

[@WatchItPlayed]

You're welcome :)

[@gabrielesimionato1210]

I played with 2 friends thos evening. Maybe 6 games or so, hard level. We won 1 time and had great, great fun. How challenging is this!

[@WatchItPlayed]

Glad you liked it!

[@darkstar4341]

I see where I was messing up now. I was glancing through the rules, and it seemed to me, that everyone would only take a single go that turn. But this helped clear that up.

[@WatchItPlayed]

Glad this helped! All the best on your next attempt to save the village!

[@nohea44]

Just bought thus game on the clearance rack at my local 2nd and Charles. The artwork alone is worth the $15 I paid for the game

[@WatchItPlayed]

Great deal!

[@Kobraisten]

awesome as always =)

[@WatchItPlayed]

Thanks so much Sage!

[@Nezbo]

The story of this game seems very much like the old japanese movie "Shichi no samurai" (Seven Samurai) :)

[@WatchItPlayed]

Yep, the designer credits the film as an influence in the rulebook.

[@ReadyAimFire_]

In Poland this game is even published under title 7 Samurajów (Seven Samurai)

[@DClairRobinson]

Great video; I have a question: if you are past your kiai number, and are therefore forced to pass your turn, is there any way to bring your number back down, or do you remain there for the rest of the round?

[@WatchItPlayed]

If your samurai meeple is already past your Kiai value (on the flame), you must pass. For the rest of the round, you are treated as though you were no longer in the game. You can neither receive cards, nor get rid of any; and you no longer suffer the penalty from the last raider card in your combat line.

[@DClairRobinson]

@@WatchItPlayed awesome, thanks for the quick reply! And you anticipated my next question too! We just ordered this game, thanks to this review. it's our first cooperative game and we hope it's as fun as it looks

[@sethy.pgaming2953]

Thank you so much for asking this I had the same question!!!

[@sethy.pgaming2953]

Watch It Played so if I’m playing single player does that mean I lost

[@enteeveee]

Can you explain one thing for me? If a Raider has a penalty where 'the player sitting to the left (or right) of the Samurai draws a Raider and adds it to his combat line' the rules state that Samurai talents cannot be applied because it is a penalty. So for Heihachi and Daisuke, they wouldn't be able to then pass that card along to someone else. I also assume you would ignore the abilities for Kikuchiyo, Kyuzo and Katsushiro. But for Gorobei and Kanbei, do you use their talent (since it activates on their next player turn) to ignore Raider penalties ?

[@WatchItPlayed]

NuggetVu That's an interesting question, and I'm not certain of the answer. Perhaps this is a good question to post to Board Game Geek boardgamegeek.com/boardgame/158900/samurai-spirit/forums/66

[@MetalMinded2011]

This is helpful, thank you. The rulebook is a horrible, rarely seen such a complete mess.

[@WatchItPlayed]

Glad the video could help!

[@MetalMinded2011]

@@WatchItPlayed Absolutely. One question - one of the countless basic things which the rules leaves in the dark: when a samurai attacks an intruder who brings his kiai over his maximum, a barricade is burnt and the samurai suffers an injury. So far so clear. But what happens when it's the samurai's turn again? Does his kiai remain above his maximum? Can he still fight? Certainly he can't attack since his kiai is already over his max. There's a sentence in the rules which seems to say that samurai with their kiai above the kiai must pass. Does that mean that the samurai is practically out of the game for the rest of that entire round?

[@WatchItPlayed]

@@MetalMinded2011 I wish I could assist, but I shot this video long enough ago that I don't remember the answer, and I don't have my copy of the game, I'm afraid.

[@Dylan-oh1li]

samureeples!

[@HenryRSeymour]

If you meet your kiai level, and you remove the top raider, where do they go?

[@WatchItPlayed]

The Faceless Crafter To the discard pile.

[@nintendy]

This was REALLY helpful to me! You're also a VERY attractive man! Thanks.

[@WatchItPlayed]

+nintendy Glad you enjoyed the video!

[@nintendy]

+Watch It Played I keep coming back now Rodney - just to see your smile! :- ) You have such a nice smile has anyone ever told you - makes me feel happy.

[@Kielyoutube]

Are you able to explain Kyuzo's kiai ability? I don't understand it at all :/

[@WatchItPlayed]

It allows him to give someone else's support token to another Samurai (including himself). Hope that helps.

[@Kielyoutube]

So without the top card of the raider deck being added to the intruder deck? Thanks for the help!

[@WatchItPlayed]

Kiel Hanson Right, exactly!

[@SwedishWookie]

Kiel Hanson Oh! So that's the advantage of doing his Kiai! :0 Thanks for clearing that up!

[@EthanAlmasy]

im not picking but when you say "key eye", is it ki (kee or key) you mean?

[@WatchItPlayed]

I would pronounce both of those the same way.

[@clintwalters2215]

+EthanAlmasy He means just what he is saying. Kiai is pronounced "key eye".

[@RulebooksForYou]

The English book doesn't make any sense. Thanks for this.

[@WatchItPlayed]

You're very welcome - glad I could assist!

[@bigceelos]

After each round do you place the burned barricades, farms and families back on the board. Or do you start the next round still missing them?

[@WatchItPlayed]

It's been a long while since I shot this, but as I recall, they do not get reset between rounds.